Grand Street communityARTS invites youto celebrate the
completion of the BoardedUP community art project.

BoardedUP is a 6 month, street-level showcase featuring
the new works of 40 area artists.

All works will be on display and up for auction.

Support communityARTS!

Friday September 12, 6pm
64 Grand Street, Albany

St. Savior
A former Catholic church unites the Mansion neighborhood as an arts center

By DANIELLE FURFARO, Staff writer
Click byline for more stories by writer.
First published: Sunday, April 13, 2008

ALBANY - Eileen Cheong thinks the Mansion neighborhood has found its patron saint.

"Who is the guardian of this community?" said Cheong, a neighborhood resident and artist. "Who does the community look to for support?"

For Cheong, that patron saint bears the name of Saint Anthony, which is the name of the old, abandoned church that is now home to Grand Street Community Arts.

Many of the residents of the Mansion neighborhood, the area east and south of the Executive Mansion, see Grand Street Community Arts and its ongoing transformation of the dilapidated St. Anthony's Church into an arts and cultural center as a savior of the neighborhood.

Grand Street Community Arts' new "Boarded Up" project is the most public display of that transformation thus far.

"It's a good idea of what to do with something so dismal," said artist Alisa Sikelianos, who contributed one of this month's window paintings. "They are taking boarded up windows and turning them into art."

Yo! Youth Organics has something new to offer to community members- a YO! Garden Share and a farm stand where you can support a great community project and enjoy fresh vegetables straight from the garden. The Yo Garden Share system is based on the idea of a traditional CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), but has the advantage that you can order what you want, instead of receiving the same produce every week that you wind up not eating. This way one does not waste a lot of food, and can plan out the meals for the week. Other benefits of the program include a variety of local, fresh produce from three different garden sites(all grown non certified organically), some of which include tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, spinach, peas, turnips, carrots, potatoes, beets, kale, collards, beans, onions, herbs and more, and directly supporting the work of Youth Organics and the 3rd Ave People's Harvest Garden.

HEY HEY HEY. GSCA has a marquee (the little piece of stainless steel was easier to hang than a refrigerator)

The space is looking beautiful and we are very ready for our 1st big music event - KIMYA DAWSON.

Of course, it still looks like the building is undergoing renovation, AND it is clean, colorful, and comfortable.

Thanks to all who helped transform the space. You are amazing!

From Albany's Metroland
April 3, 2008

Free School Benefit with Kimya Dawson

Grand Street Community Artspace, Wednesday

If you’re one of the four bajillion people who flocked to see Juno, and especially if you bought the film’s hit soundtrack album, you’re familiar with Kimya Dawson. She’s a minor legend for her participation in the New York anti-folk scene in the 1990s, as well as her work with Adam Green in the Moldy Peaches; her fragile, fractured folk was one of the film’s main musical devices. Dawson is being cool enough to lend her time to benefit the Albany Free School; proceeds from the show will support a new art-and-music initiative there. Dawson will appear on Wednesday with tourmates Angelo Spencer and L’Orchidee D’Hawai. (April 9, 7 PM, $20, St. Anthony’s Church, Grand Street and Madison Avenue, Albany, grandarts.org)

First published: Friday, March 28, 2008
From The Albany Times Union

2008 has been a big year for singer-songwriter Kimya Dawson, whose offbeat music supplies the bulk of the soundtrack for the hit Oscar-nominated film "Juno." The soundtrack CD was released in January and shot up to the No. 1 spot on Billboard's Top 200 album chart.

Now she's rolling into the Capital Region for a concert at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 9, but unlike so many other pop stars with No. 1 albums, you won't find Dawson onstage at the Times Union Center, the Palace Theatre or any of the other big concert venues around town.

Instead, Dawson will be performing at the Grand Street Community ArtSpace (formerly St. Anthony's Church) at Madison Avenue and Grand Street in Albany -- and her concert will be a benefit for the Albany Free School.

"Kimya Dawson's music is often described as anti-folk, so it's fitting that Dawson play a benefit for something of an anti-school school," explains Jeff Root of Grand Street Community Arts. "Just as Dawson achieved a wider audience for her fringe music, the Free School may find a wider audience for its little-known educational methods."

Seating is limited, and tickets go on sale at the Capital Region Federation of Ideas (383.5 Madison Ave., Albany) from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are priced at $20, and ticket purchases are cash only. For more info, go to http://www.grandarts.org.

March rotation of BOARDED UP will be coming down April 1st and replaced with new works for April. If you haven't come by to see yet, now is the time!

Many volunteers and craftspeople are working hard to get St. Anthony's ready to host events this season. They include high school students from Harriet Tubman Free School who have been working with apprentices for the Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Local Number 2, to repair our plaster walls.   The HTFS students are gearing up for their benefit concert on March 22.

On March 22, many more volunteers will converge on the old building to help us fill a dumpster, clean and organize, and continue working on the walls and floors. You can join the party! Just call 433-0679.

The interior of St. Anthony's is a symphony of activity as we get our building ready for our first events of the season on March 29 — Walls being scraped and re-plastered, floors repaired, finishing work on the new bathrooms, and much more. We're almost there, and we need everybody's help. Our next work party is Saturday, March 22, starting at 10 a.m. and we welcome your help. Many people are already volunteering at other times, and there is plenty to do and opportunities for all skill levels. Contact Tom at 433-0679, or tom.mcpheeters@grandarts.org With our current building code status,

COME SEE GSCA's boarded up!

Boarded up! is an ongoing show featuring the work of artists on 9 boarded up windows on the exterior wall of GSCA's Artspace (former St. Anthony's church).

Come down to Madison Ave @ Grand Street to take a look,

The 1st monthly rotation of Boarded Up is on display now. We had some really amazing submissions, made some difficult decisions, and are very pleased with the work that we selected. We will have a brand new rotation in april, may, and possibly beyond.

More photos after the jump (click read more below).